Some school bus drivers are asking students’ parents to lobby for them to keep their jobs, as the Bristol Township School District changes from one bus provider to another.

A few drivers handed a letter to students as they got off the bus this week, parents and district officials said. The letter urges parents to ask local officials to hire the drivers when the switch occurs.

The district is in the final months of a contract with Cincinnati-based First Student to provide busing for students. This summer, the district begins a five-year agreement with Student Transportation of America, a company based in the Pittsburgh area, to provide 46 buses and drivers. The district, meanwhile, will lease 30 buses from an STA subsidiary and hire the remainder of the drivers needed to bus kids to school.

With the change, current bus drivers could lose their jobs.

The letter states that the school board “assured residents that current drivers, monitors, dispatchers and mechanics would be hired and remain in Bristol” and urged parents to contact STA, the school board and township council “to let them know how important student safety is and encourage them to keep your children’s experienced drivers on the road in Bristol.”

The letter was signed “Bristol Township School District Bus Drivers.”

First Student spokesman Timothy Stokes issued a brief statement when contacted by this newspaper: “That is not a practice nor tactic of First Student.”

To be clear: The school board did not publicly assure anyone that they would be hired, especially since the school district has no say in which drivers STA hires. Officials said they would advertise the jobs to the public and invited all current First Student employees to apply. The letter also erroneously brings Bristol Township Council into the mix — the council has no say whatsoever in the matter.

School board President Angela Nober said the school district will hire about 30 bus drivers while STA will hire at least 46.

“Anyone can apply,” Nober said. She said the district wants as many of the First Student employees as possible. The district and STA are currently going through the hiring process.

The district switched busing vendors in an attempt to save money.

In 2011-12, Bristol Township spent about $9.7 million for First Student and several smaller companies to bus kids to and from school. Township administrators said they expect to get the cost down to about $6 million annually with STA.

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